IT was a result few could have seen coming.
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City Colts would have fancied their chances of claiming a first innings win over Rugby Union in the Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade game when play resumed on Saturday.
But an outright victory? An outside possibility.
However, that's what Colts claimed at Loco Oval - and with it the minor premiership and a direct passage to the grand final on March 30.
Defending champions Rugby resumed the day of 3-76 chasing 241 for a first innings victory to keep their realistic finals hopes alive.
Colts' best bowling arrived when it mattered most, led by a five-wicket haul from Dave Henderson (5-67), to roll Rugby for 142 and force the blue and golds into batting again.
Rugby's only hope of getting the required points to overtake third-placed Bathurst City was to pile on a mammoth second innings total.
Several Rugby players such as Jeremy Thackray (32), Imran Qureshi (17), Brad Glasson (25) and Chris Albon (23) made big-hitting starts but their efforts were only enough to muster a quick-fire 182 runs - well short of the required amount.
Pat Hill (3-33) and Angus Daymond (3-40) led with the ball during Rugby's second innings and it left Colts with 88 runs for an outright win.
Henry Shoemark wasted little time in constructing 53 runs to lead the way in his team's successful pursuit, with 15 minutes left until stumps.
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The result ensured Colts would finish on top of the table ahead of St Pat's Old Boys, who also claimed an outright win on Saturday over Centennials Bulls.
Colts captain Matt Stephen didn't see an outright win as a likely outcome when the team stepped onto the field.
"I didn't think it was possible, to be honest. I thought it was a fifty-fifty game at the start of the day," he said.
"We started really well. We applied early pressure with our bowling and Hendo bowled great for his five wickets.
"That's our first five-fer for the year and I think that's because we have a lot of bowlers we can turn to who can take wickets, which is great. Getting 17 wickets in a day is a massive effort.
"It still doesn't feel like we've made the grand final. Normally we've struggled through every finals game to make it but this will be great for us to have the week off and let the bodies recover a bit."
Rugby captain Sam Macpherson said there were a couple of key moments where the game got away from his team.
"We had a massive chance to make finals and we didn't take it, they bowled and caught well. Credit to Colts," he said.
"After the game we spoke about how it wasn't just today, we should've got our spot in the finals few weeks ago but a few key moments let us down.
"I think Pats are still favourites but the next two games will be great to follow."